Judd Apatow Reveals How Lena Dunham's Final 'Girls' Storyline Came to Be

The showrunner wanted to show the series' main character grow out of her selfishness by becoming a mother.

Lena Dunham had always anticipated that Hannah, her character on HBO's Girls, would wind up a single mother, but showrunners Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner wanted to come up with "unique ways to talk about that," Apatow said during The Hollywood Reporter's Comedy Showrunner Roundtable.

When asked about the breastfeeding storyline that was featured in the finale, the series' showrunner and executive producer explained that the basic idea was to end the series in episode nine, and have the last episode act as an epilogue.

"Why don't we just show them a little taste of the future and it'll be like a movie after the series ended?" he told THR.

After talking with Konner about people who experience postpartum depression, Apatow fleshed out how someone who has a history of mental health issues, including OCD and a bit of narcism, would cope.

"I think she'd go crazy," Apatow said. "How could you show that? And how could you discuss a character that we've seen be very selfish for a long time."

Which is where the concept of breastfeeding came about: "The idea of being present enough for your kid is what we were trying to express."

More roundtables featuring comedy and drama actresses, actors, showrunners and reality creators will continue through July in print and online. Tune in to new episodes of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter starting May 25 on Sundance TV, and look for clips at THR.com/topic/roundtables with full episodes on THR.com after broadcast.